Dad starts off very early to make a road (4)
I believe the answer is:
pave
'make a road' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'dad starts off very early' is the wordplay.
'dad' becomes 'pa' (both can mean one's father).
'starts off' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'very early' is 've'.
'pa'+'ve'='PAVE'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pave that I've seen before include "Cover with flagstones" , "Surface with stone etc." , "Dress with stone etc" , "Cover with flags" , "Cover with flat stones" .)